For years I've been reading in the Ffestiniog Magazine how members can recycle print cartridges and raise money for the FR Society at the same time. So I finally decided to look into it.

We now are set up with Think Recycle to get credit for all sorts of electronic junk: from print cartridges (a few cents) and cell phones up to I-pods and digital cameras (dollars). Visit http://www.thinkrecycle.com for more information. By the time the work weekend rolls around we should have the recycle shipping material onsite - so bring up your electronic junk (check the website first to see what they take) and help us raise more money.

Not sure at this time how easy it will be for members to send their own junk in. Here's an email from one of Think Recycle's reps regarding that issue:

Quote

"You'll need to make sure that you request ARS (authorized return service) shipping labels. This label allows you to send your items from different locations and have everything under your account. The only catch with this service is we'll need to physically mail you out these labels and you'll have to do the same thing for your members. When we e-mail labels they are not ARS therefore your members may have to pay UPS for shipping."

Hopefully we'll get enough stuff to generate at least a small amount of cash. The FR Society (with over 4000 members) gets about 100 pounds (money) per month from this. If someone out there would like to take on mailing out the ARS shipping labels to museum members that ask for them, that would be a big administrative help.

Hi,I am working on getting our ecycling program, with Think Recycle, up and running. Here is a link to the list of items that they accept. http://www.thinkrecycle.com/rebatelistfull.asp It looks like their preferred method to do this is to collect at least 7 to 10 items and ship them as a group in a box. The most economical way, for the people that come to the museum regularly, is to save your items until the next time you are here. For those of you from away who are unable to make it regularly, the best way would be to save up until you have a few items, then request a shipping label. I will send one of the prepaid labels, that they provide, out to you. I am still working out the details and the best way to accomplish this in the most profitable way for the museum. Support the museum and the environment with ecycling.Erik Missal

James, since this is basically a members collection effort, might it make more sense to put the collection box in the station, perhaps next to the desk or behind the door, rather than in the gift shop? Most members go into the station to sign the book, I presume.

I expect that the reason is that the gift shop, being attended, offers better security. However, security might not be an issue, since no one in their right mind would donate to the museum by leaving anything valuable in the recycle container. For example, a Nikon D90 digital camera is an item on the recycle list for which they offer $10. These cameras have sold on eBay for $1,000, so recycling a valuable item makes no sense.

I was looking around at work and found that it looks like a couple of the printers/copiers are on the list. I need to find out who changes the cartridges and see if they'll let me know when they change one. If anyone else has printers at work etc that are on the list, see if you can get them if they just throw them away.